Radioactivity - Erased 7"

Wild Honey (2019)

My love for The Marked Men is well documented and in particular I've been such a huge fan of Jeff Burke's songwriting for many, many years.  When he started up the band Radioactivity, I dove right in.  I thought i had been keeping up on all of their releases, but apparently this 7" snuck out in 2019.  Luckily I noticed it in a Green Noise email blast and grabbed a copy.

It's a familiar one-two punch.  The A side "Erased" is fast and hooky with the hyper drumming and chord progressions that feel familiar, but always take a slightly unexpected turn. Things calm down a little on B side "Fear," but Burke has an uncanny ability with vocal melodies and I dig this song every bit as much as the A side.

Again, I don't know exactly how I missed this 7" for two years.  I don't know if it's a lack of paying attention or a lack of reliable places to get information about these types of releases.  I'm pretty sure I'm subscribed to the Wild Honey email list, but this one still slipped past me.  I'll blame old age.

Radioactivity - Erased 7"
https://radioactivitytx.bandcamp.com/album/erased

Gentleman Jesse & His Men - Bryan 7" (/200)

Wild Honey (2019)

It's been so long since there was a new release from Gentleman Jesse that I thought there would never been another one.  Then, out of nowhere, Wild Honey announced that they would be selling a new two song 7" at the Fuzzville Festival in Spain, limited to two hundred copies.  Well, I knew there was no way I was getting to Spain and I don't think I know anyone in Spain who could have picked one up for me, so I started to stress out about how I was going to get my hands on this record.

I wish I had a really creative story about how I was able to track one down, but inexplicably a copy just popped up on Discogs a few weeks ago.  I grabbed it immediately at a very reasonable price as I would have been willing to pay significantly more if necessary.  I'm very lucky to have been able to get this record and I have to just chalk it up to dumb luck, but I'll take it.

The two new songs on this 7" were recorded during the Leaving Atlanta sessions.  A side "Bryan" is upbeat and reminds me of my very favorite Gentleman Jesse song "I Don't Wanna Know."  On the B side is "Hate To See You Say."  This one has a slower tempo, more reminiscent of the lower key moments of Leaving Atlanta, but still every bit a poppy of an earworm as anything else Jesse has ever release.

I'm really thrilled to finally have a few new Gentleman Jesse songs.  I can only hope this somehow leads to another album one day.  Jesse writes some of my very favorite songs and I just want to hear more of them.

Gentleman Jesse & His Men - "Bryan":
https://wildhoneyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bryan-hate-to-see-you-stay

Lost Balloons - Liquor Store 7" - White Vinyl

Wild Honey (2017)

I'm not sure if you want to call this a follow up or a companion piece to last week's Radioactivity review, but this Lost Balloons single was released at roughly the same time by the same label.  I also bought them together and both bands feature Jeff Burke, so they're intertwined in some way for sure.  Lost Balloons is Burke's collaboration with Yusuke Okada, who most know from Suspicious Beasts but I'll always know him from being in Blotto, one of my favorite Snuffy Smiles bands.

The two songs on this Lost Balloons 7" showcase two very different styles that the band is working within.  A side "Liquor Store" is a fast, lo fi blast of fuzzy guitar pop.  It's a style most closely linked to Jeff Burke's other bands.  Frankly it's a great song, big and powerful - though clocking in under a minute and a half, I can't help but wish it went on a bit longer.

On the B side we have "Dirty Sandy."  This one plays more to Yusuke Okada's strengths.  It's got that sort of boozy psych feel that you'll find here and there on Suspicious Beasts' records.  I can't say I like it as much as the A side.  Even on Suspicious Beasts albums, I tend to favor the songs that are a bit faster and louder than this one.  I'd say this 7" is more for completists.  The A side is really short and the B side isn't anything to write home about.  There's no way I wasn't going to buy it, but you may want to check the songs out before you dive into those import shipping fees.

Lost Balloons - Liquor Store 7":

https://wildhoneyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/liquor-store-dirty-sandy-7

Radioactivity - Infected 7" - White Vinyl

Wild Honey (2017)

I picked up this import Radioactivity 7" along with a Lost Balloons one that'll be reviewing in the next few weeks.  The postage was expensive, but man are these Radioactivity songs worth it.  I feel like if you told Jeff Burke of Radioactivity/Lost Balloons/Marked Men/etc that he wrote the best pop punk songs in the world right now, he may not appreciate that description as some folks take offense to the term pop punk.  But for me it's totally true, there's really no one doing it better.

Burke has a unique way of mixing his strained vocal melodies with wild chord progressions that always veer off somewhere unexpected, but amazing.  He writes fuzzed out pop songs differently than the rest of the world, elevating the form while still keeping things fast, catchy and exciting.  If you wanted to argue that Jeff Burke writes the best hooks in all of music, that's an argument I would definitely take under consideration.

These two new songs are as good as anything Radioactivity has previously released.   "Infected" is a quick blast of dark lyrics and escalating chords.  It's just so damn catchy that it should be in every jukebox in the world.  "Sleep" has a similar tempo, but the way the vocals are delivered makes it seem just a bit slower than the A side.  It's still a smash hit and both of these songs have me eagerly awaiting the next Radioactivity full length.

Radioactivity - Infected 7":

https://wildhoneyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/infected-sleep